CHAPTER 75: WHEN THE COLD ROME LAUGHS

Egypt tilted her head innocently.

"Bodyguards, cellphones, and a car?"

She glanced at Paris.

"Paris, isn’t it too much for us to accept those kinds of gifts? What do you think?"

Paris looked at Egypt as if she were thinking hard about it.

"Hmm..honestly, the pellet gun is already enough for us. We can’t accept such precious gifts like the ones they’re offering. It’s too much."

"See?" Alfonso puffed his chest proudly. "Paris knows the value of my gift!"

"Hah, she’s just being polite." Calyx muttered under his breath.

"Hehe, it’s not that we don’t like what you’re offering us. However, we can’t accept such precious gifts!" Egypt said.

"But it’s not that precious to us. If you think it’s too much, then why not say what you want instead? I’ll give it to you—whatever it is"

"Didn’t you hear what the twins just said? Tsk. They can’t accept such expensive gifts. That’s why they liked the pellet gun I gave them better." Alfonso teased.

"Tsk. Your gift isn’t even worth being proud of. Just admit you’re stingy." Calyx muttered.

"What did you say?!"

Egypt giggled at their childish argument, while Paris couldn’t help but sigh.

"You uncles are more dramatic than the bullies we just faced."

"W-what..."

"Pfftt—haha."

The four men froze for a moment when a sudden chuckle escaped from under the bear costume.

Rome immediately stiffened and turned his head away, pretending nothing had happened as all eyes snapped to him.

"Ehem..." He cleared his throat and crossed his arms, as if trying to bury the moment.

"..."

"Pfffttt—"

Alpheus broke into a restrained chuckle. He couldn’t believe it. Rome, of all people, laughing like this? And in a bear suit, no less?

He was already amazed that the Rome he knew had managed to stay hidden under the bear costume for so long and still control himself, knowing full well how impatient he usually was and how much he disliked situations like this. But to suddenly laugh now? It was as if he wasn’t the cold Rome Alpheus knew anymore.

"Mr. Bear Man, did you just laugh?" Alpheus teased, a smirk tugging at his lips. "What do you think, then? Which gift would the kids love more?"

However, in contrast to Rome’s sudden lighthearted laugh earlier, his tone instantly became calm and serious.

"Nothing" he said flatly.

"Huh?"

"I said nothing. The twins don’t need your gifts. What they need most is to make sure something like this never happens to them again."

Rome’s calm but firm words left his friends momentarily speechless.

"Psst... KJ.." Alfonso muttered quietly.

"What?"

"I said you did well taking care of what happened. Those young bullies looked genuinely scared now, so I think they won’t dare repeat what they did to the twins again." Alfonso muttered again.

Rome nodded subtly. After handling the young boys who had bullied the twins, he had made sure they wouldn’t dare mess with them again. He had warned them that if they repeated what they did, no school would ever accept them.

Terrified, the boys had run off immediately after promising to never do it again and offering their apologies.

Relieved that nothing bad had happened to the twins, he couldn’t help but smile. They were braver than he had expected, and knowing they were safe lifted a weight off his shoulders.

"Wow... so Mr. Bear can actually talk!" Egypt whispered, unable to hide her surprise.

"Pffttt—what do you mean by ’he can talk’?" Calyx couldn’t help but laugh. "He doesn’t look like it, but he’s still a man under that awkward bear costume, haha!...h-ha."

He immediately stopped laughing when he felt the heavy glare from Rome under the mask.

Egypt pouted. "But all this time, he just made those weird gestures—I thought he couldn’t talk."

"Haha, he may look like it, but our Bear Man here just isn’t comfortable speaking. That’s why it’s a miracle if you hear him talk."

A thought suddenly struck Egypt. Now that she thought about it, the man under the mask felt familiar—someone she and Paris knew well.

Curiosity winning over hesitation, she stepped closer, causing the bear man to step back slightly in surprise.

"Now that I think about it... Mr. Bear, you seem really close with Uncle Alpheus and his friends. Are you... perhaps friends with them too?" Egypt asked innocently.

Rome slowly nodded to Egypt. He couldn’t bring himself to lie in front of the twins.

Maybe he just wanted to be honest with them, he didn’t want them thinking he wasn’t a good person by lying.

"Uhm... then, if you’re friends with our uncles, that must mean you’re our uncle too. Can I... see your face, Uncle?" Egypt asked innocently, her eyes wide with curiosity.

Alpheus and his friends exchanged a quick glance. Alpheus stepped closer to Egypt so she wouldn’t focus all her attention on Rome.

"Haha, about that, Egypt. Just like this Bear Man said, we’re good friends. You see, he doesn’t really want to hide his face, but he’s a bit shy—that’s why he’s hiding behind the bear costume."

Egypt, however, wasn’t convinced. She pouted and tried to peek at the bear man.

"But I want to see his face. I need to know if he’s a good man or not."

Paris, curious about her sister’s sudden insistence, peeked at the bear man as well.

"Can I see your face too? I’m also curious to see who you really are. You don’t seem like a bad person, but I also want to take a glimpse of your face. If you’re friends with Uncle Alpheus, then that only means you’re also good-looking like them."

"Good-looking? So we’re good-looking to you Paris?" Calyx couldn’t hold back the wide grin spreading across his lips.

"Yes"

Paris smiled politely, though the real reason behind it was different. What she wanted more was to finally see the face of the man under the bear costume.

"Guys, did you hear that? Paris said I’m good-looking!"

"She didn’t say that to you, so don’t get ahead of yourself," Alfonso replied with a grin. "She only said that to us—that means it’s only Dave, Alpheus, and me, and you’re not included."

On the other hand, Rome couldn’t help but feel nervous. But why? These were just twins standing in front of him, and he had no reason to hide his face.

He simply didn’t want to startle them. His features bore a striking resemblance to theirs, and he knew they were smart enough to notice immediately if he revealed himself.

Still, he wanted to be honest with them, so he was about to remove the mask when suddenly-

"Paris! Egypt!" a familiar voice called out. It was none other than Sylvia.

"Mommy!" the twins exclaimed, rushing toward her.

"I heard what happened from Amie. Are you okay?"

As Sylvia looked them over, she noticed there were no scratches or injuries. Only then did she take in Alpheus’ friends and the bear man standing nearby. He seemed about to remove his mask, but quickly stepped back, hesitating and not taking it off completely.

"Sylvia... glad you’re here." Alpheus said warmly.

"Yeah, I heard from Amie that a group of kids tried to bully you both. But... what really happened?" Sylvia asked, scratching her head.

She glanced briefly at the bear man, who met her gaze calmly under the mask, before Alpheus rested a gentle hand on the twins’ shoulders.

"Ah... Teacher Amie might have been worried about what happened," Alpheus explained. "But nothing actually happened to the kids. Maybe I exaggerated a bit when I told her to call you. The twins handled the bullies themselves, and we’re planning to make sure nothing like this happens again through proper disciplinary measures, so you don’t have to worry anymore."

Sylvia immediately relaxed. She crouched down, cupping both of the twins’ faces in her hands, relief flooding her expression as she saw they were safe and unharmed.

"Thank you... nothing bad happened to the twins. Thank you for taking care of them.." Sylvia said sincerely to Alpheus and his friends.

Alpheus scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, there’s really nothing to thank us for. The twins are like our real nieces. We just want them to be safe and unharmed at all times."

"Yeah, they’re very much like our real nieces, so it’s only natural for us to take care of them." Alfonso added.

"The twins are adorable, so blame their genes for being cute and lovely—everyone just wants to protect them!" Calyx added with a grin.

Everyone looked at Calyx.

"..."

"What?" Calyx asked cluelessly as to why his friends were giving him strange looks.

"Pftt—thank you!" Sylvia repeated softly, her voice gentle and genuine, as she held the twins’ hands.

"We’ll be heading home now, so... thank you again for looking after them. Twins, say goodbye to your uncles."

Alpheus froze for a moment, surprised. It was the first time he had heard Sylvia acknowledge them as the twins’ uncles. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips—he couldn’t help it.

"Bye, uncles! Bye, Uncle Bear Man!" Egypt exclaimed, letting go of Sylvia’s hand for a moment.

She ran over to Rome and placed something in his hand.

"Bye!" she said cheerfully before spinning around and running back to her mother.

Rome couldn’t help but be surprised for a moment. Slowly, he opened his hand and looked at what she had given him—a single candy, with the words thank you printed on the wrapper.

A small smile curved his lips. A candy from a child... a tiny gesture, but somehow it felt... meaningful and precious.